Robert Whittaker may have missed the opportunity to main event last weekend’s show in Perth but he was watching closely.
The UFC middleweight champion recently sat down with GrangeTV and broke down what he saw in the fight between Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero.
Robert Whittaker on Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero
Whittaker’s first thought on Romero vs. Rockhold is that Romero may have been coming into the bout with a back injury.
“(Romero) looked completely opposite to what he usually does when he goes in there.” Whittaker stated. “You can’t be sure, cause he was mentioning a back injury earlier, you can’t be sure if it was the back injury and that’s what prevented him from not doing his normal explosive, unorthodox movement or if it was a gameplan because it worked so well.”
Romero’s manager said yesterday his fighter almost pulled out of the bout due to the impacts of a harsh weight-cut and travelling across the globe on short notice as well.
Whittaker would also say Romero was patient to not over-exert himself as well, taking breaks before exploding again on his opponent.
To him, though, the most impressive part of Romero’s performance came down to his confidence in predicting his opponent’s combos and movements.
“He had undoubted confidence and prediction in what Rockhold was going to do” – Robert Whittaker on Yoel Romero
Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero II
Dana White has said Yoel Romero is next in line for a shot at Whittaker’s middlweight championship. White stressed after Romero missed weight that the former Cuban Olympian had taken the fight on short notice and had not had a full training camp.
Recently, Romero’s management team pitched the idea of Romero vs. Whittaker II taking place in Miami. MMA FIghting is reporting there is also interest on UFC’s end to have Miami host the bout.
